Demonstrators protest for the release of hostages being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip outside the Knesset in Jerusalem, Oct. 28, 2024. Photo courtesy of Chaim Goldberg/Flash90.
Families of Israelis being held captive by Hamas in Gaza converged on the Knesset on Monday, Oct 28, with some dressing up as captive Na’ama Levy, replete with bloodied sweatpants and hands tied behind their backs, and others blocking hallways and confronting parliamentarians.
“We have young girls and women in the hands of Hamas for more than a year. My daughter is one of them. It’s unfathomable on many levels,” Ayelet Levy Shachar, Na’ama’s mother, told JNS. “Women in captivity are clearly at increased risk with regard to their health and the sexual violence they are subjected to, as such they require special attention,” she said.
“We have a legal and civilian obligation to bring them all back. I am here to make sure that in our country where this falls under the responsibility of decision makers, they are doing everything they can,” she added.
During a session of the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality, Knesset member Pnina Tamano-Shata passed around a letter signed by hostages’ families and other lawmakers imploring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to conclude a deal with Hamas.
“It’s forbidden for us to forget them, especially for the decision-makers. As such, it was important for me to schedule this discussion on the day of the memorial ceremony for the victims of Oct. 7. We must bring back those whom we can still save now,” Tamano-Shata, a member of former War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz’s opposition National Unity Party, told JNS at the session.
At the heated committee session, members of the Gvura Forum, a group representing hostages’ families, expressed opposition to giving in to Hamas’s demands. “My daughter was missing for 10 days and during that time I hoped she had been taken captive. I no longer have that beam of light,” Galia Hoshen, the mother of Hadar Hoshen, who was murdered at the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im on Oct. 7, 2023, told the gathering.
“After the mandatory 30-day mourning period, my son entered Gaza to bring back the hostages and he asked of me, if something were to happen to him, to oppose a deal. I was hesitant to let him go but he said he had to for the people of Israel,” she continued.
“We have a murderous, barbaric enemy that we need to destroy. It was said during this session that we killed everyone. We have not destroyed them yet,” Hoshen added, amid cries by other attendees to bring the hostages home “now.”
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum told JNS that between 60 and 70 family members had made the trip to the Knesset. Family members and friends of hostages stood in the Knesset hall and engaged legislators on their way to the meetings, including Gantz and his fellow National Unity MK Gadi Eisenkot. Security services threatened to escort them out of the Knesset and at one point seized their entrance permits, with one guard telling the families that he had accommodated them for a year but was done doing so. Eventually, the entrance permits were returned.
“We are here to say that 388 days have passed and it’s way too much. The time has come for decision-makers to do something about it,” Sharon Kalderon, the sister-in-law of Hamas captive Ofer Kalderon, told JNS.
“We sat here with our eyes closed to just remind them that there are 101 hostages in Gaza. Enough is enough. Let’s stop everything. There is no absolute victory, the only victory will be once everyone is home,” she added.
Varda Ben-Baruch, the grandmother of American-Israeli captive Edan Alexander, told JNS, “We are here to make the voices of the hostages heard and make sure they are not forgotten.” Born in Tel Aviv, Alexander grew up in Tenafly, N. J. Part of the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion, he was stationed near the Gaza Strip when he was kidnapped on Oct. 7.
Orna and Ronen Neutra, whose son Omer is a hostage, shared with JNS their intent to travel to the United States for the presidential election. “There will be a lot of activities no matter who wins. We will be expecting President Joe Biden to do everything in the time he has left in power to bring the conflict to an end and help us bring the hostages back. That will be his legacy,” Ronen Neutra told JNS.
Orna explained how important it was for her to come to the Knesset to have her voice heard. “The situation on the ground has changed, most of Hamas’s battalions have been defeated. [Hamas leader] Yahya Sinwar is dead, these war goals have been achieved. The release of the hostages should take top priority right now,” she said.
